Craig's List: Five Reasons Why the Vinyl Resurgence Continues

by Craig Anderton

Photo Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

1 -  Vinyl is a word that just plain sounds cool.

Don’t believe me? Then why do so many songs incorporate it—like Roxette (“God I know, it's final...decided to release my love on vinyl”), The Plain White T's (“Kiss me goodbye and I knew it was final, got in her daddy's car and she was gone like vinyl”), Public Enemy (“From a rebel, it's final on black vinyl”), Black Sheep (“Back in '86, first, foremost and final, rhyming on the corner, all I want to be's on vinyl”)? I mean, they could have chosen lyrics to rhyme with “spinal,” “rhinal,” or even “vaginal.” But they chose vinyl because obviously, it just plain sounds cool. I rest my case.

2 - Thankfully, cryogenics works!

Unfortunately, all the people who knew how to master for vinyl died years ago. But there's good news: some were preserved cryogenically, and they’ve since been revived to teach a whole new generation of engineers that no, you really don’t want out-of-phase bass in the left and right channels. Score one for science!

3 -  The Recording Industry Association of America needs something to do.

Someone has to make sure the infamous RIAA curve stays nice and curvy so that all those phono preamps can go through insane amounts of EQ in an attempt to have vinyl not sound horrible. As Protectors of the Curve, the RIAA can branch out beyond their traditional role of making sure that the music industry remains behind the curve. The technology curve, that is.

4 - Ground post manufacturers have a powerful Washington lobby.

Remember those ground posts on turntables with the screw terminals where you could attach a ground wire to keep hum at bay? Have you ever seen ground posts on anything else? Of course not! So when vinyl records started their decline, the Ground Post Manufacturers Trade Association saw the handwriting on the wall, bought themselves a few senators...and the rest is history.

5 - Fear of a music industry recession.

Let’s face it, the band playing your local bar making $27.14 from the tip jar isn’t keeping the music industry going—it’s DJs getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do big festivals and private parties held by giant multinational entities, like the Ground Post Manufacturers Trade Association. Take away the DJ’s vinyl? Not a good idea.

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